Maito Gai stood at the end of the training field, hands on his hips, smiling broadly. "Gather 'round, my dear students! I have a surprise for you today."

Neji, Tenten and Lee stood in a row, waiting—Lee with breathless expectation, Neji and Tenten with wary expressions.

Gai pulled something out from behind his back: a green jumpsuit, identical to his own.

"Uh-oh," muttered Neji.

Gai held up the jumpsuit. "This is a ninja's ideal garment. It's durable, lightweight, flexible and water-resistant. It will keep you warm in the bitterest cold of winter and cool on the most sweltering summer day. I guarantee you, once you try it, you'll never want to take it off."

Lee let out a delighted cry and ran toward his sensei. He took the jumpsuit in both hands and turned it, inspecting it from every angle. "Gai Sensei, thank you!"

Gai beamed. "I have one for each of you."

"Are you serious?" asked Tenten.

"Of course!" Gai gave them a thumbs up. "It's really no trouble. They're not expensive."

"Don't you think we'd look a little strange? I mean, all of us walking around in identical jumpsuits?"

"Well, we are a team, after all. Think of it as a uniform."

"Not to sound ungrateful," said Neji, "but I think I'll stick with my own outfit."

Gai's smile faded a bit. "Well, it's your choice. But I think if you just try it out..."

"No thanks," said Tenten. "I mean—it's very nice, don't get me wrong, but…I just don't see myself in green."

"They have other colors…"

"What I mean is, I really don't see myself in a jumpsuit at all."

"I think it is wonderful." Lee held the jumpsuit against himself. "No one has ever given me a present before. I cannot wait to try it on."

Gai's face brightened. "I promise you won't be disappointed."

The next morning, Lee woke, showered, changed into the jumpsuit, and stood in front of the bathroom mirror, turning back and forth. He looked a little more like Gai Sensei. Except…

A sudden burst of inspiration hit him. He went back into the bedroom, pried open his turtle-shaped ceramic bank, and counted the money inside. He had just enough.

He went straight to the barber shop and said, "Hello, sir. I want a bowl cut."

The barber eyed Lee's green jumpsuit, scratched his head, and shrugged. "All right. Hop in the chair."

An hour later, Lee left, running his hands over his new hairstyle. His head felt strangely light, and the back of his neck felt naked without the extra hair to cover it, but his heart bubbled with excitement. Wait 'til he sees me.

As he walked toward the training field, Lee began to wonder if it had been a silly thing to do. Wearing the jumpsuit made sense, because Gai had given it to him, but perhaps copying his hairstyle was taking it a step too far—even if it did (in Lee's opinion) look better than his old style. He ran his hand through his shortened hair again.

Too late to go back now.

He arrived at the training field. Normally, Lee was the first to show up, but today, Tenten and Neji were already there, waiting.

Tenten looked at him and did a double-take. "What in the world?"

Neji's cool expression never wavered. "You see this sort of thing in geese. It's called imprinting. The young unthinkingly mimic the behavior of the adults."

Lee frowned. "You are making fun of me."

"Very observant."

"I happen to think I look better with a bowl cut. That is all. And the jumpsuit is more comfortable and flexible than my old clothes."

"Ah, I see. So it has nothing to do with Gai Sensei or the fact that you worship the ground he walks on."

"I think it's kind of cute, actually," said Tenten.

"What? The bowl cut, or his passionate devotion to a man who likes to run laps around the village at three in the morning while balancing a coconut on his head?"

"It was not a coconut, it was a squash. And he did it to train his sense of balance," said Lee.

"He did it because he's a loony. How often does a ninja have to balance something on his head during a battle?"

"He is not a loony! Stop making fun of Gai Sensei!"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Must we have this conversation every morning?"

"How can I just say nothing when he insults my sensei? He has no right…"

"We'll have to continue this fascinating discussion later," said Neji. "Your idol just arrived."

Lee tensed and looked up to see Gai approaching them across the field. Gai smiled and waved. "Ah, you're here early! What a delight, to see all your shining, youthful faces waiting for me."

"I do not have a shining, youthful face," said Neji. "Take that back."

"Ah, Neji, always joking around…" His gaze fell on Lee, and his eyes widened.

Warmth rose into Lee's cheeks. He laced his fingers together behind his back, suddenly self-conscious. "Good morning, Gai Sensei."

"Lee, you…" He stared, mouth open. Then he laughed, ran toward Lee and swept him up in a bear-hug. Gai spun around in a circle with Lee in his arms, momentarily lifting him off the ground, then set him down again. "I feel like I'm looking into a mirror!"

Lee grinned. "Does it look all right?"

"All right? You're devastatingly handsome. The girls will swoon the moment they see you."

"I'm a girl," Tenten pointed out.

"Ah, but you spend so much time around Lee. When the mountain is in one's backyard, one does not see its majesty."

"What does that even mean?" asked Neji.

Gai didn't seem to hear him. "Right, my young friends, let's get started! We've got a mission to complete."

"Yes, sir!" Lee saluted.

Neji sighed as he followed them across the field.

"Honestly," muttered Neji, "they call this a mission? Looking for a lost cat?"

They walked through the forest side by side. They'd split into two teams to cover more ground; Gai Sensei and Tenten were searching the south end of the village, while Neji and Lee searched the north end.

"What's more," said Neji, "I'm pretty sure it's the same cat we found last month. The poor creature is desperate to escape that woman. Someone should just put it out of its misery…but then Konoha wouldn't have enough useless D-rank missions to keep the rookies busy."

"Gai Sensei says all missions are important, no matter how small they may seem."

"Gai Sensei isn't always right, you know. Actually, he's wrong about a lot of things. I mean, we're talking about a man who thinks orange legwarmers look good."

"Gai Sensei is a great man. And there is nothing wrong with his clothes. In fact, I happen to think he is the most handsome man in Konoha."

"Your aesthetics are a little warped."

"Stop it. I meant what I said earlier. You should show him more respect. He is your sensei, after all…not to mention the strongest Taijutsu specialist in Konoha."

"He's brilliant at Taijutsu, I'll grant him that, but that's about all he's got going for him."

Lee clenched his fists. "He is also a very wise man."

"No he's not. He just spouts a lot of clichéd garbage about believing in yourself and working hard."

"It is not garbage!" Lee glared at him. "What is your problem? All you ever do is sneer at people and make fun of them. I am tired of you making nasty remarks about Gai Sensei behind his back."

"Well, maybe I'm tired of you always going on about how wonderful he is," Neji snapped. "You think everything he says and does is brilliant. It's embarrassing to listen to you. 'Oh, Gai Sensei, you're so wise!' 'Oh, Gai Sensei, you're so strong! Teach me how to be just like you!' You act as if you're in love with him. You may as well just get down on your knees and suck his dick."

Lee stared, stunned. Neji was often sharp-tongued, but in all the time they'd spent training together, Lee had never heard him say something so crass. Heat rose into his cheeks. "It…it is not like that. I admire him. I respect him. That is all."

Neji sighed. "I know. Sorry." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Let's just look for the stupid cat."

They completed the mission within a few hours. Lee challenged Neji to a duel, lost, and spent the evening training alone, trying to lose himself in the movement of his body.

"One thousand five hundred and fifty-seven…one thousand five hundred and fifty-eight…" He gritted his teeth. "If I cannot do two thousand sit-ups, I must do three thousand jumping jacks!"

When he finished, he flopped onto the grass, panting and drenched in sweat. Stars shone against the velvety blue-black sky.

"Lee!" boomed a deep voice.

Lee leaped to his feet and turned. Though he'd been exhausted a moment before, a burst of fresh energy filled him when he saw the familiar, green-clad form step into the clearing. "Gai Sensei!"

Gai approached, smiling. "You've been working hard, I see."

He nodded, noticing how the moonlight reflected off his sensei's coal-black hair. Funny, how he noticed those kind of things. Gai really was very handsome…and he had such warm, kind eyes. Lee sometimes felt that he could stare at that face for hours. "I challenged Neji again today. I lost, but I managed to hold out a little longer than last time. I think."

"Keep it up. If you put enough time and effort into your training, you'll definitely defeat him."

"Do you really think so?"

He nodded. "Of all my students, you've improved the most. You're already much stronger than you were when you first became a Genin."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. I'm proud of you, Lee."

Lee smiled, a flush rising into his cheeks. Gai Sensei's praise always gave him a rush of joy that he felt from head to toe. It started as a warmth in his chest, then spread throughout his whole body, making his heartbeat quicken and filling him with a burning desire to do better, to strive harder, to make Gai proud of him so he could see that smile again.

"Care to run a few laps with me?" asked Gai.

"Yes, sir!"

That night, Lee returned to his cramped, sparsely furnished apartment near the edge of the village. He made himself a quick dinner of rice, ate, showered, changed into his sleep-clothes and lay down on the thin floor-mat that served as his bed. He pulled a blanket over himself and looked at the framed picture of Team Gai that he kept near his pillow. His gaze wandered to his sensei's face. Then he rolled onto his other side and closed his eyes.

But sleep didn't come easy.

He felt strange…restless, despite the exhaustion and soreness in his body. He kept tossing and turning. Neji's words kept echoing in his head: You may as well just get down on your knees and suck his dick.

He wondered why he was still thinking about that. True, it had been rude and unexpected—not at all like Neji's usual brand of cool, refined cruelty. Still, people had said worse things to him back at the Academy. It shouldn't bother him.

Why did it?

Lee stared at the ceiling.

Gai Sensei had given him a path, a reason to go on hoping and believing. If not for his sensei's support and encouragement, Lee was sure, he would have succumbed to despair by now. Lee had never had a family, and he'd never been good at making friends. Gai was the first person who had acknowledged him, believed in him, cared about him. And Lee adored him. For Neji to speak so dismissively about that precious bond, to reduce it to something so crude and physical…

I wonder what it would be like.

The thought flashed through his head before he could stop it, and he was instantly mortified. He hid his hot face against the pillow and realized—to his further embarrassment and confusion—that he was hard.

Rock Lee had never masturbated. He was vaguely aware that this made him a rarity among boys his age, but he'd never thought much about why he didn't. He supposed he'd always regarded it as one of those weaknesses that took time and energy away from training—a vice, like alcohol or gambling—and thus, he'd done his best to ignore his occasional urges.

He thought about Gai Sensei's warm, dark eyes, his hands—for some reason, Lee had been noticing his hands a lot lately. They were large, firm and calloused from training, the knuckles scarred. From time to time, Lee felt those hands on his body when Gai corrected his fighting stance, and it always gave him a little thrill of pleasure. It seemed somehow secret, forbidden, almost wicked…

Why am I having these thoughts now?

Sleep. He needed to sleep. He tried to focus on his breathing, but his mind kept wandering. He rolled back and forth, trying to find a comfortable position. He was usually too exhausted at the end of the day to notice how thin his sleeping mat was.

Except he knew it wasn't really the mat that was keeping him up.

He stared at the ceiling, his heart pounding as if he'd just finished running laps. His face felt flushed. And he was still hard. He was never going to get to sleep like this. Maybe just this once...

Lee gulped. Then, slowly, he reached into his pajama pants.

For awhile he tried thinking about Sakura, the pretty little green-eyed girl from the Academy. Then he tried thinking about Tenten, but stopped right away because it felt weird. She was almost like a sister…not that he'd ever had one, but he'd always imagined it would feel like that. His mind shuffled through every girl he knew, trying to find one that felt right, but his thoughts kept returning to his sensei's warm, dark eyes, his smile, his firm, calloused, gentle hands, and his deep voice—

I'm proud of you, Lee.

Lee's breathing quickened, and he buried his face against the pillow to muffle his soft moans.

A few minutes later, he pulled his hand out of his pants and stared at the thick, white liquid dripping from his palm.

What is wrong with me? he wondered. Gai was his teacher. He was more than twice Lee's age. Lee wasn't supposed to be having these kind of feelings about him.

He wiped off his hand and dropped the crumpled tissues into the trash can, his heart aching with confusion and guilt. He hid his face against the pillow, his eyes stinging with tears, and he wondered…

If Gai knew, what would he think?

-To be continued